Funny that innovation could be considered a "business concept" when the entire Western missionary enterprise (carefully chosen word) is awash with and in many ways has already sold out to - business concepts! Pragmatism, efficiency, ROI, we are consumed with "getting things done," doing things well, etc. Beginning with William Carey adopting the trading company model (which he never said explicitly but seems strongly implied), we are always looking around us for "concepts" that will help us. I guess at the same time we are suspicious of these concepts, where they come from, what their assumptions might be, etc. And we should be. For instance, a focus on the needs of the consumer could be related to a theology to "love thy neighbor" or it could be related to prioritizing people's felt needs over deeper "needs" of a person such as life in Christ. And while Jesus was incredibly innovative, most people thought he was a heretic. In being innovative, he wasn't following principles of design thinking. All to say that whenever we take words from one context and apply them to another where that word (and worldview) didn't exist, we need to be careful. I'm all for a theology of innovation, because that forces issues like these to the forefront.
I've lived in this Midwestern suburban area for about 5 months now, and the church shopping process has revealed a Christian community that is made up of two distinct molds. Churches on the one hand are typically smaller, typically Reformed, and though some have attracted younger crowds, are almost entirely made of post-Catholic Polish, Irish and Germans of the older generations who built this city. One the other hand, it's today's majority Hispanic population that fills those old Catholic churches - seemingly daily busloads on Guatemalans, Colombians, and Venezuelans are challenging the now-established Mexican families who have driven a rapid demographic rise to majority status over the last 30 years.
Our families interestingly represent both of these communities. Her folks are Mexican immigrants and staunchly Catholic, while mine are the product of at least 4 generations of the Wesleyan Holiness movement (though not of the Charismatic variety!) What's clear is that, by and large, our families don't really understand each other for the reasons you'd expect: culturally, religiously, linguistically...
But perhaps our experience is indicative of ministry in our city. It's almost as if neither side engages with each other in meaningful ways to bring the Gospel to the mass influx of Hispanic and Asian immigrants, literal busloads, of the last few years. All while the majority makeup of these two branches seem comfortable filling their niche and nothing more, spiritual fruit city-wide is observably waning.
How can my church be a part of spirit-led innovation in a space like this? I can't imagine my city is unique in this way. Eager to know what other churches in similar contexts have found successful.
Funny that innovation could be considered a "business concept" when the entire Western missionary enterprise (carefully chosen word) is awash with and in many ways has already sold out to - business concepts! Pragmatism, efficiency, ROI, we are consumed with "getting things done," doing things well, etc. Beginning with William Carey adopting the trading company model (which he never said explicitly but seems strongly implied), we are always looking around us for "concepts" that will help us. I guess at the same time we are suspicious of these concepts, where they come from, what their assumptions might be, etc. And we should be. For instance, a focus on the needs of the consumer could be related to a theology to "love thy neighbor" or it could be related to prioritizing people's felt needs over deeper "needs" of a person such as life in Christ. And while Jesus was incredibly innovative, most people thought he was a heretic. In being innovative, he wasn't following principles of design thinking. All to say that whenever we take words from one context and apply them to another where that word (and worldview) didn't exist, we need to be careful. I'm all for a theology of innovation, because that forces issues like these to the forefront.
I've lived in this Midwestern suburban area for about 5 months now, and the church shopping process has revealed a Christian community that is made up of two distinct molds. Churches on the one hand are typically smaller, typically Reformed, and though some have attracted younger crowds, are almost entirely made of post-Catholic Polish, Irish and Germans of the older generations who built this city. One the other hand, it's today's majority Hispanic population that fills those old Catholic churches - seemingly daily busloads on Guatemalans, Colombians, and Venezuelans are challenging the now-established Mexican families who have driven a rapid demographic rise to majority status over the last 30 years.
Our families interestingly represent both of these communities. Her folks are Mexican immigrants and staunchly Catholic, while mine are the product of at least 4 generations of the Wesleyan Holiness movement (though not of the Charismatic variety!) What's clear is that, by and large, our families don't really understand each other for the reasons you'd expect: culturally, religiously, linguistically...
But perhaps our experience is indicative of ministry in our city. It's almost as if neither side engages with each other in meaningful ways to bring the Gospel to the mass influx of Hispanic and Asian immigrants, literal busloads, of the last few years. All while the majority makeup of these two branches seem comfortable filling their niche and nothing more, spiritual fruit city-wide is observably waning.
How can my church be a part of spirit-led innovation in a space like this? I can't imagine my city is unique in this way. Eager to know what other churches in similar contexts have found successful.